1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of data processing. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to the display of information records stored within a database of an electronic device, e.g., a computer system, a portable computer system, a palmtop computer system, or any other hand-held electronic device that utilizes a display screen, such as a cell phone, a pager, etc.
2. Related Art
As the components required to build a computer system have reduced in size, new categories of electronic devices and computer systems have emerged. One of the new categories of computer systems is the “palmtop” computer system. A palmtop computer system is a computer that is small enough to be held in the hand of a user and can therefore be “palm-sized.” Most palmtop computer systems are used to implement various Personal Information Management (PIM) applications such as an address book, a daily organizer (calendar, datebook, etc.) and electronic notepads, to name a few. Palmtop computers with PIM software have been know as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Many PDAs have a small and flat display screen associated therewith.
In addition to PDAs, other portable electronic devices have display screens, such as cell phones, electronic pagers, remote control devices and other wireless portable devices. All of these devices have been adapted to display short lists of information on the display screens to help the user organize and display information, e.g., phone records.
User convenience is a very important factor for portable electronic devices. Typically, portable electronic devices are employed while the user is on the run, e.g., in business meetings, on business travel, personal travel, in a vehicle, on foot, etc. Because the user may be occupied or busy while using the portable electronic device, the number of user steps or user tasks required in order to access information from an electronic device (or to store information into the electronic device) is crucial for producing a commercially successful and useful product. That is, the more difficult it is to access data from an electronic device, the less likely the user will perform those tasks to obtain the information. Likewise, the easier information is to obtain, the more likely the portable electronic device will be used to obtain that information and the more likely the portable electronic device will become a part of the user's everyday activities.
A popular database program for displaying and organizing contact information is the “address book” database application found in PDAs and in some intelligent cell phones. This application allows a user to enter records concerning their personal contacts, e.g., person's name, address, company, telephone numbers, email addresses, etc. Each record can be assigned a particular category, e.g., friend, business, family, etc. When looking for records, the categories can be used as filters, e.g., a list of the records of a designated category can be displayed where each record is condensed into just one line in the display. The condensed list can be quite long and therefore provision is made allowing the user the ability to scroll up and down through the list.
The application program sorts the lists by a designated record field. For instance, the lists can be sorted, and thereby displayed in sort order, according to last name. However, in the “address book” database application, all categories of records are sorted based on the same designated record field regardless of the category designation. In other words, if the sort and display field is based on last name, then all records, e.g., family, friends, business contacts, etc., are sorted and displayed based on this field. Unfortunately, while last name may be an adequate sort field for friends, it may not be appropriate (and it may not be optimized) for locating business contacts. Importantly, a single sort preference for the entire application, irrespective of the individual category, does not allow users to customize their sort order based on how they, as individuals, remember people's contact information.